7 Effective Cybersecurity Strategy: Today’s Business Critical Function

Do not be the one to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted. It’s high-time to explore the current security practices and its implementation. Opt for the best practices and preventive measures pre/post-attack or breach.

An alarming survey of CyberArk, the trusted leader in Privileged Account Security depicts that 46% of orgs never change cybersecurity strategy, even after attack or breach..

The security vendor surveyed 1300 security decision makers and concluded that security inertia has infiltrated the organization[s] to such an extent that they are unable to prevent the attackers each time they attempted, and 50% said that the data is not secured beyond the legally-required basics.
 

Furthering the study, if we recall the 2017’s cyber attacks, a few of the headlines include:
 

Mandiant, the cybersecurity firm revealed massive data breach influencing 143 million US consumers in its forensic analysis report for Equifax. On investigation, it had failed to realize the critical vulnerability alert from one of its web portals.
 

The hackers of Uber accessed the server possessing the personal data of 57 million drivers and riders for a hefty ransom amount. Later on, it was understood that the attackers accessed the private Github repository of the Uber’s developers.
 

Yet another worst ransomware attack of 2017 is of Wanna Cry, which infected 3,00,000 computer systems within four days. This attack showed the significance of patching, which is left unattended by many of the firms.
 

There are more to add on to the list like Yahoo attack wherein the business email got compromised, Rasputin’s attack, Taringa, Verizon, and, etc.
 

SECURITY TAKEAWAYS FROM THESE ATTACKS:
 

If we look back into the details of these attacks, it is found that the compromise laid on was mainly the best practices.
 

The aftermath reports named web portal vulnerability, Github repositories, patching, weak algorithm, server misconfiguration, SQL injections, unencrypted data, and, etc., as the culprit.
 

The CyberArk report also revealed that 8% of the organizations perform Red team exercises, and 44% of respondents are rewarding the employees who prevent a security breach as a measure to prevent cyber attacks.
 

Still, the organizations must be able to understand the wants of a cybercriminal, probable methods that could be employed to have the deal, discover critical vulnerabilities, and identify the ways to shield it.
 

Before understanding the methods to shield one’s organization against attack, let us know why and how the organization gets attacked?
 

It is a surprisingly undeniable factor that most of the cyber threats reported are influenced by the internal factors or the employees themselves.

As per a report published by Axelos, 75% of the large organizations suffered staff-related security breaches.
 

Another shocking observation is that only 20% of the staff surveyed had attended cybersecurity training.
 

A few of the practices that make your organization vulnerable to cyber attack include the following:
 

• All of the end users have the local admin rights on their workstations.
• IT helpdesk staff use the domain admin accounts while troubleshooting the servers/ workstations.
• The domain admin accounts are used by others other than the authorized personnel.
• Any of the new workstations are set up with cloned images.
• Use of AD Group policy to rotate the administrative password
   

If your organization uses any of these above-mentioned privileges, it is likely to get attacked sooner or later.
 

Let us move forward...
 

Check out for these tips and keep your organization protected from cyber attack.

1.Communicate the possible risks associated and its impact with all the staff members. Each staff must understand that cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility.  
 

It is a truth that most of the employees do not know the impact of a cybercrime and its management. It is necessary to educate the staff, take training specific to the organization, recognize and respond to an attack, and thus reduce the risk of possible breaches in future.
 

2. Teach the staff regarding malware attack and enable them to recognize the phishing communication and handle them successfully
 

It is necessary to protect the host and client machines using the antivirus solutions that will scan for the malware actively. It is recommended to ensure the stringent policies for web browsing, removable media, devices, and email with a clear understanding of the risks.
 

3. Enforce regular password updates or the automated processes as per the call. The staff must be trained and aware of the internal policies.

A regular update of passwords may seem to be a forgetting issue and majority of us just ignore the call as we fail to understand its implications. Though it sounds like elementary, one has to take care that the password security policies are followed.
 

4. The network perimeter must be strong enough to protect the internal and the client data as well with trusted networks.
 

Your organization is easily vulnerable to attacks when connected with untrusted networks. It is recommended to have a strong Access Control Lists [ACLs] for devices and follow the recognized network design principles to configure the perimeter/network segments.  
 

5. A corporate policy is essential to develop a secure baseline. The use of ICT systems is highly recommendable to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the information systems.
 

It is necessary to remove or disable the unwanted functionality from the ICT systems and protect the organization from possible threats and vulnerabilities. The functionalities must be patched with updates regularly and protected against possible vulnerabilities.

6. The astringent monitoring strategy is highly recommended for all of the ICT systems by employing Network and Host Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems [NIDS/HIDS/NIPS].
 

It is essential to monitor the inbound/outbound traffic continuously. The controlled access must be limited and updated; the audit logs, user passwords or the account deletion must be monitored regularly so as to prevent data compromise.
 

7. The IT staff must be trained for a better incident response and disaster recovery capability for a recommended business continuity.
 

The incident response team must be trained and updated across the technical and non-technical areas as well. A regular testing of the incident management plans must be done so as to ensure that the organization is prepared to handle any scenario[s].
 

The Closing Note:

It is high time that the employees fully understand the strategy and proactively respond to the risk in their work environment.
 

These are simple yet powerful strategies one can learn to protect the organization in one day. Any organization that follows these tips can protect their organization in a week and double the profit with trusted business continuity.